Support for echo sounders



Oct. 21, 1969 K|ETZ ET AL SUPPORT FOR ECHO SOUNDEES Filed Feb. 8, 1968Fig. l

INVENTORS.

Hons Kierz Karl Emil Johunnsen BY $1M ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,473,500 SUPPORT FOR ECHO SOUNDERS Hans Kietz,Bremen, and Karl Emil Johannsen, Hamburg, Germany, assignors to KruppFried. Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Essen, Germany Filed Feb.8, 1968, Ser. No. 707,372 (Filed under Rule 47(a) and 35 U.S.C. 116)Claims priority, application Germany, Feb. 8, 1967,

Int. Cl. B63b 3 5/00, 43/04 US. Cl. 114-.5 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE Support apparatus for a plurality of echo sounders used formapping the contour of the floor of a body of water. The supportapparatus includes outriggers, along which the echo sounders aredisposed, which are connected to a surface ship and which, in theiroperational position, extend out from the ship transversely to thedirection in which the ship is moving.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to support apparatusfor a plurality of echo sounders used to map the contour of the floor ofa body of water and, more particularly, to support apparatus havingoutriggers along which the echo sounders are disposed. The outriggers,according to the invention, are connected to a ship. In theiroperational position, the outrig ers are disposed transversely to thedirection in which the ship is moving.

Heretofore, it has been the practice in the art to mount the supportapparatus for echo sounders above the surface of the water the floor ofwhich is being mapped. Such an arrangement provides outriggers whichextend out from the ship but the support apparatus 'of which are at alloperational times above the surface of the water. The echo sounders areattached to holders provided on the support part. The holders reach intothe water from the support apparatus above the surface of the water.structurally, the support apparatus, according to this arrangement, arepartially supported by swivel bearings on the ship and partially by oneor a plurality of floats in the water. In order that such a support willbe able to absorb the various dynamic forces acting on it, andparticularly on those portions of its body which are submerged when theship is moving, the floats must be relatively large. This results in therather significant disadvantage that the vessel, which is usually small,carrying the supporting apparatus with the echo sounders can hardlyproduce the necessary power to attain the required speed for thesurveying trip.

The outriggers, according to the prior art, are not only pivotallymounted around a vertical axis bearing on the ship, but are alsoprovided with a joint having a horizontal axis in the body of theoutrigger itself. Such a construction enables the outriggers togetherwith its supporting floats to maintain its extended, relativelyhorizontal, position when the ship is rolling. Under this arrangementthe depth to which the echo sounders are submerged is determined solelyby the floats. This arrangement presents some problems, due to the factthat the echo sounders require depth adjustments to be accurate towithin :5 cm.

It was for a long time believed that accurate depth adjustments couldonly be achieved by floats. However, advances have been made in thesupport apparatus art which have proved otherwise. In one supportapparatus construction which does not rely on the use of floats,

3,473,500v Patented Oct. 21, 1969 outriggers are provided which are sopositioned that they glide through the water and are so disposed thatdynamic downward-pulling forces which result on the outriggers areabsorbed by a cable extending upwardly at an angle from the vicinity ofthe end of each to an auxiliary mast on the ship. This construction hasproved effective and has served to render superfluous the use of floats.In this construction, as in previous constructions, a joint is providedin the outrigger itself in addition to the joint where each outriggerjoins the ship. This additional joint is horizontally disposed. Thereason for providing the additional joint in each outrigger is toprevent the rolling motion of the ship from being transmitted to theoutriggers. Thus, the outriggers according to this construction arerestricted in their movement in a downward direction by the cable butare free to move in an upward direction. When the ship is at astandstill, the weight of each outrigger itself will function to holdthe outrigger in a lower position, the limit of which is determined bythe cable. When the ship is moving, the dynamic downward-pulling forcesserve to hold the outriggers in this lower position.

With regard to the horizontal joint provided in the outriggers, whichhas for its purpose to prevent the rolling movements of the ship frombeing transferred to the outriggers, it should be noted that thisparticular feature of the construction has the important drawback thatthe vertical position of the ends of the outriggers nearest the ship isnot sufliciently guaranteed. In order to avoid this drawback, thepresent invention was devised.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is toprovide a relatively simple support apparatus to avoid the drawbacksmentioned in the preceding discussion.

Accordingly, the present invention proposes to construct outriggerswhich are entirely under water and serve, essentially, as underwaterfloats. These outriggers are rigidly connected to the ship. Theoutriggers of the invention are so constructed that they have generallytear-shaped cross sections. Thus configured, the outriggers will haveonly small upwardor downward-pulling forces.

While it may appear that the outriggers constructed ac cording to such afashion would not be able to withstand the loads to which they might besubjected, it should be noted that the surveying of the depth of riversis usually and most advantageously conducted under circumstances whenthe water in the rivers is relatively calm. The outriggers are, in theiroperational position, disposed transversely to the direction in whichthe ship is moving and are rigidly connected to the ship and, therefore,are decreasing strongly any rolling movement of the ship. The rollingmovement during the surveying procedure is so small that there is nodisadvantage by the fact that the position of the inventive constructionis only defined by the position of the ship. Moreover it is not likelythat the outriggers would be overloaded or taxed to a breaking point.

The depth to which the outriggers are maintained can be controlled withthe assistance of markers provided near their ends. These markers orgauges can also be marked to indicate the static equilibrium of thenonmoving ship. Static equilibrium can be adjusted by effectingrearrangemeants in the ships ballast, for example, by pumping water fromone ballast chamber to another.

With regard to the tear-shaped cross-sectional configuration of theoutrigger arms, it should be noted that such a configuration reduces theflow resistance of the water so that the ship can be propelled throughthe water with a relatively small additional amount of power beingrequired.

The outriggers, pivotally connected to the ship around a vertical shaftcan be moved alternatively between an operational position in which theyare disposed transversely to the direction in which the ship is movingand a nonoperational position alongside the ship in a position generallyaligned with the longitudinal axis of the ship. Thus when the underwatersurveying expedition is completed or when the ship must move aroundobstacles in the water, the outriggers can be brought to theirnonoperational positions and back to an operational position when theecho sounders are to be employed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic transversesectional view of a ship having apparatus according to the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic bottom view of a portion of the ship showingthe apparatus according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to both FIGURES 1 and2, illustrated there is the support apparatus according to theinvention.

The ship 1 is provided with one outrigger 4 on each of its sides, theportside 2 and the starboard side 3. Each of the outriggers 4 ispivotally connected to ship 1 so as to pivot about a vertical axis 5.Thus, each of the outriggers 4 may be moved, pivotally, either to anoperational position, as shown on side 3 of ship 1, which position liestransversely to the direction in which ship 1 is traveling, whichdirection is indicated by the arrow 6, or, in the alternative, to anon-operational position, as shown on side 2 of ship 1, in which it isdisposed alongside the ship 1.

A plurality of echo sounders 7 are disposed on the outriggers 4 andalong the bottom of the ship 1. The echo sounders 7 are spaced at equaldistances from each other and are arranged in such a manner that theyform a straight line when the outriggers 4 are in their operationalpositions. With the aid of each individual echo sounder 7, the depth ofthe floor 8 of a body of water is registered at the corresponding pointon an indicator associated with the echo sounder 7. In a known manner, amoving ship 1 and can thus chart the contour and map the floor 8 of aparticular body of water.

The outriggers 4 comprise substantially straight beams each having atear-shaped cross section 9 as best seen on the port side 2 of FIGURE 1.The beams are hollow and are so constructed that they are subjected to arelatively low static downward or upward pull.

Practical tests have shown that the amount of static downward or upwardpull is not critical and can be a matter of selection depending onconsiderations of construction.

By using a small distortion of the normally horizontal situatedtear-shaped cross section 9, the two outriggers 4 con be subjected tovery little downward or upward pull when the ship 1 drives the outrigger4 through the water or when water flows past the outrigger 4.

The slope of the cross section 9 is selected so that the dynamic forceswill be nearly the same for the two outriggers on both sides of theship. According to the tearshaped cross section the dynamic forces whichoccur during operation of such outriggers do not have the significancewhich has thus far generally been attributed to them. It would also bepossible to select the slope of the angle of the cross section 9 so thatsmall dynamic upwardpulling forces would result at each outrigger 4.

Each outrigger 4 is rigidly connected to a connecting means 18 and ispivotally mounted with respect to a pivot means 5. The pivot means isrotatably, but not displaceably, mounted in outboard bearings 10 and isprovided with an arm 11 to which is connected a piston rod 12. Thepiston rod 12 is operated by, for example, a pneumatic linear pistondrive apparatus 19, provided for each outrigger 4. Each piston driveapparatus 19 has a pressure cylinder 13 which is mounted on the ship 1to pivot around a shaft 14. Each piston drive apparatus 19 can move itscorresponding outrigger 4 from the operational position to thenonoperational position and vice versa.

An end marker 15 in the form of a vertical element with respect to therelatively horizontal outriggers 4 is located near the end of eachoutrigger 4. This end marker 15 indicates the position of the outer endof each outrigger 4. Moreover, the end marker 15 is provided with agauge element 16. When each outrigger 4 is properly positionedhorizontally, for operating the echo sounders 7, the gauge element 16 ofeach outrigger 4 is barely beneath the surface of the water 17. Thestatic and the dynamic equilibrium of the outriggers 4 can thus bemonitored and controlled before and during a surveying trip.

It will be understood that the above description of the presentinvention is susceptible to various modifications. changes andadaptations.

What is claimed is:

1. In apparatus for conducting undersea explorations from a surface shipby the use of echo sounders, support apparatus for said sounderscomprising, in combination:

(a) a pair of outriggers, one on each side of a ship;

(b) each of said outriggers, in its operational position, being orientedhorizontally and being located beneath the surface of the water andextending transverse to the direction in which such ship is intended tomove;

(c) means for connecting said outrigger to such ship;

and

(d) a plurality of transversely spaced-apart eChO sounding meansprovided on said outriggers and on said ships bottom for sending andreceiving depth measuring signals to the bottom of a body of water.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the means for connecting theoutrigger of the support apparatus of such ship includes:

(a) means for pivotally connecting said outrigger thereto on the outerside of the ship about a generally vertical axis;

(b) means for moving said outriggers about said piv otal connectingmeans whereby said outriggers may be moved from a nonoperationalposition adjacen'. to, but outside of, the side of the shipsubstantively aligned with the horizontal axis of such ship to saidoperational position which is transverse to the direction in which suchship is moving.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said outriggers has agenerally tear-shaped cross sectional means for substantially equalizingthe vertical upward and downward pulling forces acting on the outriggersduring their passage through the water.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said outriggers hasan end-marking means, said end-marking means further including means forindicating the depth beneath the surface of the water at which saidoutriggers are located.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein, when said outriggers are inoperational position, said echo sounding means on said outriggers andsaid echo sounding means on said ships bottom are in alignment with eachother.

6. Apparatus for conducting undersea explorations from a surface ship bythe use of echo sounders, comprising, in combination:

(a) a ship having a substantially imperforate sheath defining theoutermost side regions of its hull;

(b) two outriggers extending horizontally from the outer sides of saidsubstantially imperforate sheath;

(c) means mounting said outriggers on the outer sides of said sheathmeans for movement from the horizontally extending position to positionsadjacent to the respective outer sides of the sheath; and

(d) a plurality of echo sounding means arranged on 5 d and extendingalong the lengths of said Outriggers References Cited and mounted in aposition for sending and receiving UNITED STATES PATENTS depth measuringsignals to the bottom of a body of water when said Outriggers are intheir respective 2,022,038 11/1935 Hfmht 116*27 horizontally extendingpositions 2,346,391 4/1944 Pitou et a]. 1140.5 X a 5 036 540 5/1962 Greor 114-126 7. Apparatus as defined 1n clann 6 in which the outa riggermounting means include a vertically arranged pivot TRYGVE BLIX PrimaryExaminer and means mounting the outrigger for movement about said pivotfrom its said extended position to its said ad- US, Cl, X R

jacent position. 10 114126; 116-27 3 3 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICECERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTIQN Patent N 3 473 500 Dated October 21st 1969Inventor(s HANS KIETZ and KARL EMIL JOHANNSEN It is certified that errorappears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent arehereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 4, change "Krupp Fried." to -Fried. Krupp.

Column 3 line 55 change "con" to -can SIGAED AH.) SEALED MAR 3 4970Edwardlifletchmlrm IAII :0 m Attestmg Officer 23: 81 one, of t;

